President Biden said former President Carter, who died Sunday, “lived a life measured not by words but by deeds.”
In a Sunday night speech from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Biden added that Carter was “a man not only of our time but for all time.”
“And his compassion and moral clarity lifted people up and changed lives and saved lives all over the globe,” Biden said. “Jimmy Carter is an example of simple decency.”
Biden celebrated Carter’s long history of service to his country, including serving in the Navy, serving his home state of Georgia as a governor and state senator and his service to the nation as the 39th president.
Biden in his the 10-minute speech noted how he had known Carter for decades and counted him as a friend and confidant.
“When I endorsed him for president I told him it was not only for his policies but his character,” Biden said.
“His life was dedicated to others,” Biden said, listing some of his efforts, which included working to fight disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections around the world and build housing for the homeless with his own hands.
The outgoing president noted how loss, and in particular, cancer, had brought his family closer to the Carters over the years.
“What I find extraordinary is millions of people around the world feel they lost a friend as well even though they never met him,” Biden said.
Asked if there were any lessons President-elect Trump could take from Carter, Biden said, “Decency, decency, decency,” adding that Carter would never neglect someone in need or demean them based on their looks.
“We could all do well to be a little more like Jimmy Carter,” said Biden.
